Ken Rosenthal reported on Wednesday night that the Pittsburgh Pirates have been trying to trade lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo, but the slow market for left-handed relievers has hindered their progress. Rosenthal notes that multiple MLB sources confirmed that the Pirates were trying to move some salary, possibly to made another acquisition.
According to Rosenthal, Jerry Blevins, Boone Logan and Craig Breslow are among the top lefty relievers still available on the free-agent market, and they are holding up any possible deal the Pirates can swing for Bastardo, who is set to make $6.5 M this upcoming season. The Pirates also have more left-handed relievers than they are likely to carry this season, so moving one would make sense.
Tony Watson and Felipe Rivero will have late inning roles, so they’re not your typical lefties out of the bullpen. Besides them, the Pirates still have Bastardo, Wade LeBlanc and Tyler Webb, who was a Rule 5 draft pick from the New York Yankees back in early December. Bastardo actually pitched better against right-handed batters than lefties last season, with a higher strikeout rate and a .220 BAA, compared to a .258 BAA and an .816 OPS from left-handed batters.
Bastardo was acquired from the New York Mets during the trade deadline for Jon Niese last year. The Mets also included an undisclosed amount of cash in the deal. With the Pirates, Bastardo had a 4.13 ERA and a 3.94 FIP in 24 innings over 28 appearances. He had 28 strikeouts and a 1.25 WHIP. Those numbers were all improvements over how he was doing while with the Mets, where he posted a 4.74 ERA in 43.2 innings over 41 appearances.
